Concert Photos: King Diamond, Overkill Brought the Metal to the Agora

Danish heavy metal legend King Diamond continued his demonic legacy of more than 40 years with a stop at the Agora in Cleveland, part of the 35-date “St. Lucifer’s Hospital 1920” tour. Joining King is original guitarist Andy LaRocque and Danish black metal soloist Myrkur, who provided backing vocals and organ. King plans on releasing a new album in 2025, the first since 2007’s Give Me Your Soul…Please. The track “Never Ending Hill” from his last release was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance.

Cleveland has loved Overkill since their inception in the early 1980s. The thrash kings stormed the stage for a set filled with classics like “Rotten To The Core,” “Elimination,” “Hello From The Gutter,” and peaked with the closing anthem “Fuck You,” covered from the Subhumans and the name of their acclaimed live album, recorded at The Phantasy Theater in Lakewood in 1987. The band did not feature founding member and bassist D.D. Verni, who sat out this tour due to complications from shoulder surgery. Filling in for D.D. is former Fear Factory bassist Christian Olde Wolbers.

The California power trio Night Demon opened the show, with an energetic 30 minutes of old school heaviness. The band has built its following and reputation from relentless touring and is a well-oiled powerhouse that energized the crowd for a night of classic metal at The Agora, known for its history of memorable metal shows.

Here is all the action we caught.